It had all the makings of another Great Depression. As Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, he faced a dilemma. In this crisis he could play it safe and hold steady on his predecessor's path of pampering the rich and pandering to corporations, pretending that possibly, eventually, some benefit would trickle down to workers. Or President Obama could keep candidate Obama's promises of change.

He went with change. He focused on workers, believing restoration of the nation's great middle would drive economic recovery for all. He secured an economic stimulus package and rescued the American auto industry. Both measures worked to halt, and eventually reverse, the previous year's relentless economic decline. Both, as well as other changes President Obama has proposed, emphasize creating and securing jobs for everyday workers. He wagered on American workers. And it paid off.

They're betting that more tax cuts for the rich will prompt reinvestment and economic resurgence. That's the gamble former President Bush took when he twice cut taxes on the wealthiest. After seven years, here's how Bush's bet on the rich paid off: the economy and jobs were contracting at an alarming rate. Remember the fear in 2008?

Now, three years later, after President Obama placed his faith in workers, the nation's economic outlook is brighter. As is that of GM and Chrysler.

"I placed my bet on American workers. And I'd make that same bet again any day of the week. Because three years later, that bet is paying off for America. Three years later, the American auto industry is back."

In the past few weeks, President Obama has doubled down on his wager on working Americans. He has called for a tax break reversal -- ending the deal corporations get for shipping jobs overseas and instead giving it to those who move jobs back on shore. And, just last week, he demanded an end to the $4 billion in subsidies that taxpayers give massively-profitable oil and gas companies, explaining:

"You can either stand up for oil companies, or you can stand up for the American people."

Republicans immediately attacked the president for the proposal. They criticized him for talking to the auto workers as well. While Republicans regard workers in general as second class citizens, not to be given the deference they reserve for the rich, members of the GOP particularly despise auto workers because they're members of a labor union. Republican lawmakers hate unions -- maybe even more than they loathe President Obama. They can't tolerate any organization of workers that succeeded in bargaining with fat cat factory owners for weekends off, paid sick days, good pensions and middle class wages, even though the GOP lawmakers themselves benefit from decades of union activism by receiving weekends off, paid sick days, good pensions and very decent wages.

Obama, by contrast, told the auto workers he was honored to be with them, to bet on them:

"It's unions like yours that fought for jobs and opportunity for generations of American workers. It's unions like yours that helped build an arsenal of democracy that defeated fascism. It is unions like yours that forged the American middle class -- the greatest engine of prosperity the world has ever known."